This paper describes a novel approach for the suppression of contamination enhanced laser damage to optical components by the use of fluorinated coatings that repel organic contaminates. In prior work we studied laser damage thresholds induced by ppm levels of toluene under nanosecond 1.064 μm irradiation of fused silica optics. That work showed that moderate vapor-phase concentrations (< 15%) of water and alcohols dramatically increased the laser damage threshold. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that water and alcohols interact more favorably with the hydroxylated silica surface thereby displacing toluene from the surface. In this work, preliminary results show that fluorinated self assembled monolayer coatings can be used to accomplish the same effect. Optics coated with fluorinated films have much higher survival rates compared with uncoated optics under the same conditions. In addition to enhancing survival of laser optics, these coatings have implications for protecting spacecraft imaging optics from organic contamination.

Date Published: 4 December 2012
PDF: 6 pages
Proc. SPIE 8530, Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2012, 85302A (4 December 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.2011179

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8530:
Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2012
Gregory J. Exarhos; Vitaly E. Gruzdev; Joseph A. Menapace; Detlev Ristau; M J Soileau, Editor(s)